


Endurance

by ownedbyacat



Series: Coded in Leaves and Petals [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-15
Updated: 2013-05-15
Packaged: 2017-12-11 23:13:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/804339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ownedbyacat/pseuds/ownedbyacat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As plants go, the thing was rather forgettable.  As gifts go, though.... it was invaluable for Iruka's survival.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Endurance

A couple of spindly, greyish-green stalks, two feet tall and with their base buried in a deep green ceramic pot, the _thing_ had no redeeming features, not even decent spikes, though Iruka thought it might be distantly related to a cactus.  It inhabited a corner of his desk one morning as he came to work, the now familiar note of red crepe by its side.  And Iruka sighed, decided to read up on the meaning of cacti in the evening and finally took the sad specimen home with him.

For the next few months the pot took up a quiet corner in Iruka's living room, ignored and neglected – in as much as Iruka could neglect any living thing.  He never found out the name and meaning of the spindly plant and even forgot to associate it with his secret admirer.

Two nights before Iruka left on his mission, the unprepossessing, lanky plant, half-forgotten in its corner on the windowsill taught Iruka a lesson. It flowered.

The white bloom, made up of thousands of smaller petals, lasted for just one night.  But watching it slowly open as the sun sank and night darkened over Konoha was one experience Iruka would not soon forget. Just as he would remember the flower's sweet scent and how it lingered in his home as he left.

And as Iruka's mission went to hell, as he fought to keep his teammates safe, as he was caught and dragged away to spend long torturous days in this lightless cell, fighting as best as he was able, waiting for rescue, or maybe death, he remembered the lesson of the grey spindly plant: endurance.


End file.
